Tennessee basketball: Top 10 2020 SG Keon Johnson commits to Vols

Tennessee basketball recruiting received its second pickup for 2020. In-state four-star shooting guard Keon Johnson chose Rick Barnes and the Volunteers.

With a five-star prospect already committed for 2020, Tennessee basketball received another major pickup on the recruiting trail Tuesday evening. Rick Barnes scored big again with an elite talent in the process.

Keon Johnson, a shooting guard out of The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn., committed to the Vols for 2020, joining five-star forward Corey Walker Jr. as the two commitments in the class. They are the only two commitments so far for that year.

A four-star on Rivals, Johnson stands at 6’5″ 180 pounds. He is the No. 34 ranked player nationally and the No. 10 ranked shooting guard. He announced his commitment at his church and then tweeted it out on his account.

Tennessee basketball was in the running with the Ohio State Buckeyes as the final two schools to land Johnson. They made the cut after the Virginia Cavaliers fell out of the running earlier in the summer. However, the Vols were always the favorites.

Despite his four-star rating, multiple sources suggest it will bumped out to a five-star soon enough. He was named MVP of the Team USA junior minicamp in July, and that should be a major boost to his recruiting ratings.

As a junior, he averaged 24.6 points a game, over three assists a game, over eight and a half rebounds a game, nearly two and a half blocks a game and three steals a game, according to MaxPreps. Here is a look at some of his highlights.

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As you can see, Johnson is very athletic. However, he needs to put on some weight given his size, and there’s not a lot of evidence of him having a legitimate outside shot, although he appears to be improving in that regard.

Either way, though, Johnson is a big pickup with Walker already on the board. Technically that would fill Tennessee basketball’s roster, as Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden are the only seniors on there this year and the roster is full. However, it’s a pretty good bet that some guys will leave early.

So with other elite in-state prospects, including four-star, Chattanooga prospects Samson Ruzhentsev, still on the board as well, Barnes may not be done. But Johnson is a huge pickup for him, and he could be an even bigger pickup once his recruiting ratings update. This was a great day for the Vols on the court.